During the past 38 years, a nonprofit cultural arts institution in downtown Dallas, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, has hosted Academy Award nominees, Grammy winners and some of America’s most noted jazz musicians and comedians, as well as unknown performers who later became famous.

Four generations of photographers – all named Byrd Williams – documented more than 100 years of North Texas history with their work. Now, UNT Libraries has acquired their collection, consisting of over 10,000 prints and 300,000 negatives.